 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsGeneral TopicsCat AnecdotesHealth and BehaviorRescue CatKB.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / July 2006It's the COmputer Chair
Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my PCP. And lots of various remedies rubbed into skin that didn't want me to sleep at night. Middle grandson had a rash first. After many moons his mom finally got him to the doctor who gave him medicine and he got better. Initial requests for information from grandson were useless and from daughter weren't much better. I had thought perhaps grandson had Scabies or something similar, but daughter said no it wasn't that. Last week I finally found out that the doctor said he had scabies and the doctor treated him for scabies and he got better. And that a bunch of the teens around town are suffering from "similar problems" . Really red itchy what looks like mosquito bites and really itchy rash. It seems we have an epidemic. Older grandson is also afflicted. As are lots of their "friends". Well, in my doctor's rather flimsy defense, I'm not exactly a prime candidate for this nasty parasite. Unless you know that we have a really nice upholstered desk chair at the computer. One that we share. One that we have been known to use while wearing not much more than underwear. Not at all unusual for the chair to still be warm from the prior occupant when someone sits down to check their email, etc. I figured it out all on my own last Friday once I had all the facts. Went into the weekend clinic Saturday and got medicine, and spent Sunday doing a LOT of laundry and cleaning. The nice office chair has been banished to the very hot outdoor storage shed till it can sterilize itself. And we are reduced to using a folding chair at the computer. And to wearing a more complete wardrobe at the computer. Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in day care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the teens and young adults and those who know them, people need to know that. Especially if their doctors don't seem to be up to speed. Jo > Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of > prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my PCP. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Jo I remember an outbreak of scabies here many years ago. We had a small women's clothing shop at the time, it was said that it spead by teen girls trying on clothes. Don't know if that's factual or not. But I do remember a lot of girls getting it. It must be very contagious. Sherry Oh my god! Who'd a thunk it? But at least you have an answer and treatment. YEAHH! > Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of > prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my PCP. [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > > Jo <snip> > Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in day > care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the teens > and young adults and those who know them, people need to know that. > Especially if their doctors don't seem to be up to speed. Years ago, my brother had an itchy rash that his GP was unable to diagnose, and he was referred to a dermatologist. When he and our mother went into the office, my mother announced that she knew what my brother had; she'd spent the time in the waiting room perusing a public information leaflet on The Itch aka scabies. She was right, too. My brother had recently been discharged from the local children's hospital, where there had been an outbreak. It used to be a total disgrace to be known to have the Itch, but my mother was just furious that she couldn't get a diagnosis without yet another trip to yet another specialist in the Big City.  SignatureCheryl > Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of > prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to [quoted text clipped - 37 lines] > > Jo I'm glad you now know the cause and it's easily remedied. SignatureAdrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera) Cats leave pawprints on your heart. http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk > Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of > prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my > PCP. And lots of various remedies rubbed into skin that didn't want me to > sleep > at night. EEEK. Scabies, no wonder you itched so much from this little parasite that gets right under your skin. Have you managed to get a lotion that kills it? When I was doing "elderly" work it often did the rounds and the care assistants would get it from their patients. I seem to remember that they had to cover themselves all over in some sort of lotion for 24 hours before it could be washed off, to finally kill it. It's horribly contagious. Burn your chair if you think you got it from that. Tweed >> Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of >> prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Tweed Yep. We've all done the 12 hour stuff, including making sure the kids with no insurance got it too. Very contageous, but it normally takes skin to skin contact. The mites really can't live very long off the human body. Or at much over body temperature. Just the way we shared the chair had turned it into a perfect vector. A couple of weeks in the outdoor shed at 100F/40C plus outside temperatures and it will be OK. Remains to be seen if I'll look at it a decide to pitch it out in the trash anyway at that point. People weren't so secretive about these things it would be easier to get rid of them. My doctor will not live down missing the diagnosis any time soon. Jo > Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of > prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > > Jo My mother is in a nursing home and has had scabies on three separate occasions. It really is a major problem in nursing homes. In my opinion, your PCP failed you because scabies cannot be definitively diagnosed just by "looking." These are microscopic mites, and the itchy rash alone does not always tell the whole story. It requires a scraping and microscopic analysis if there is any doubt. Nursing homes do not like to "admit" thiat they have this problem, and the nurses all insisted my mother did not have scabies. I took her to our doctor, he did a scraping in his office, and there was the evidence! That said, simply moving the "offending" chair is not enough. The *entire area* needs to be throoughly cleaned because these little monsters can be transported by clothing, from one person to another, or may simply crawl from one piece of furniture to another. Here is what one web site says: "You would need to put and seal zippered plastic mattress covers over the beds, wash all linens with bleach/borax, and place all sheets/blankets in a dryer on high for at least 20 minutes everyday. All clothing should be laundered in bleach/borax also and it is recommended to place these in the dryer for 20 minutes also before wearing. You also need to treat any other furniture as well as car seats and office chairs. Carpets and upholstery need to be thoroughly vacuumed and then dispose of the bag. If you have a canister vacuum with no bag, dispose of contents and then disinfect the canister. Items can also be placed in a sealed plastic bag and put away. If the mites do not get a meal within one week, they die." MaryL >> Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of >> prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] > > MaryL These should have been pretty obvious by looking if one were aware that they are spreading around town like wildfire. I thought the row of welts along my waist across the back were mosquito bites. But even I knew something was up when I got a curved row of the same welts on the back of my arm where my sleeveless tops end. There are a lot of various sites that say how much treatment of the home is needed. The doctor that diagnosed it said that washing the bedding down to and including the mattress pad and washing the clothes I was wearing would be enough. Very glad most of our furniture is leather. I put the pillows on our bed through the hot cycle on the dryer too. It really isn't easy to spread them without skin to skin contact. But then teenagers anymore crawl all over each other like puppies in a basket. Nursing homes have problems because the elderly have such thin skin (so do I) and because they get lazy and ignore some basic hygiene rules. Like use gloves, change gloves, wash your hands, keep towels bedding and clothing clean and dry and separated by resident. Jo > Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in day > care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the teens > and young adults and those who know them, people need to know that. > Especially if their doctors don't seem to be up to speed. I think I'll start carrying a towel to cover chairs with me when I go back to school next month. Can a towel protect from Scabies? HOWARD? Pam S. grossed out by scabies >> Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in >> day care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I think I'll start carrying a towel to cover chairs with me when I go back > to school next month. Can a towel protect from Scabies? HOWARD? They really shouldn't be that contageous. I'd likely have been fine if I didn't have such thin skin from years of prednisone use for asthma. Or if I didn't make a habit of chasing the sweaty kids away from the computer to check my email. Or if all of us were better about wearing more clothes at the computer. Or if the chair had been a smooth surface instead of upholstery. And then they wouldn't have been so awful if I'd know right off what it was and been treated. Jo >>> Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in >>> day care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > Jo Unfortunately, I caught scabies when I was only 12 years old, and I definitely did not have "thin" skin then. On the other hand, we do believe it was person-to-person contact. I sat next to a child on the school bus, and we later learned that he had scabies. So, it did not take particularly close contact for this to occur. At the same time, I have never heard of massive "outbreaks" except in institutions such as nursing homes. MaryL >>>> Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in >>>> day care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > MaryL Nursing homes and day care centers are the classic vectors. But as I'm sure Pam and others around here will confirm, teens and young adults anymore don't seem to have much concept of "personal space" Sure there is a lot of sexual contact going on with some of them, but also a lot of piling into cars and onto sofas and sharing beds and clothes, play fighting etc. As I said its kind of like watching a basket full of puppies a lot of the time. I do think I've finally got mine convinced that there may really be a good reason to hang a towel up and let it dry even if you don't plan to use it again. And that throwing it on your bed isn't the best idea. Jo >>>>> Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem >>>>> in day care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of [quoted text clipped - 40 lines] > > Jo In my case, I got scabies simply from sitting beside someone on the bus -- it did not take any type of close "personal" contact, although that may be a common means. MaryL > > Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in day > > care centers and nursing homes. If it is running the rounds of the teens [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Pam S. grossed out by scabies Speaking of gross-out child-spead diseases and assorted afflictions---do you remember something called "trenchmouth"?? I have never figured out what it actually was; but you could tell the kids who had it because their mouths were purple with medicine. My mother put the fear of God into me about drinking from the water fountain at school. I am *still* creeped out about public water fountains. Goes to show how much Mom-influence we still carry with us, whether we admit it or not!! Sherry >Speaking of gross-out child-spead diseases and assorted >afflictions---do you remember something called "trenchmouth"?? I have >never figured out what it actually was; but you could tell the kids who >had it because their mouths were purple with medicine. Vincent's Angina was the illness and Gentian Violet was the remedy. Trench Mouth is caused by a spirochete. Nowadays they give antibiotics for it. It got the name "Trench Mouth" because it was common in the generally unsanitary conditions of the trenches on the Western Front of the First World War. >> > Too much information. I know, But this is supposed to be a problem in >> > day [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Sherry I never knew anyone with trench mouth, but a skin disease known as "impetego" used to be common. Actually, I think I had every childhood disease except measles -- scarlet fever, mumps, chicken pox, etc. My father and his brother both had polio when they were children, so we were not permitted to go to crowded areas during the hottest part of the summer until after polio vaccine was available. We were taken first for oral vaccine and then for immunization on the very first day it was available in our community because my parents had such a fear of it. Tragically, a friend of my father's refused to take his children because he did not want them to stand in line. His son developed polio and died a short time later. I suspect that he had contracted it *before* he could have acquired any immunity, but his father had terrible feeling of guilt for the rest of his life. MaryL > My father and his brother both had polio when they were children, so we > were not permitted to go to crowded areas during the hottest part of the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > have acquired any immunity, but his father had terrible feeling of guilt > for the rest of his life. Some of the best parts of my childhood summers were in retrospect due to fear of polio. Kids were warned away from swimming pools and lakes and ponds. And crowds. I spent a lot of summer time at my grandparents house way out in the country. I still plant moss rose every year because Grandma loved it. And baby my tomato plants because Grandpa would expect me to. Jo Hey there, I have a story that kinda matches yours but at a different angle. This couple had been suffering from Ringworm. I'm not sure just how they go it initially, or anything more except that I was told they had been suffering from outbreaks and they had cleaned there house, seen a dermatologist for drugs and everything and it kept coming back. How long I do not know. Then a friend of theirs(I think) asked them, "Why don't you check your cat?" *pause for jaws to drop* I heard this story at the other clinic when the cat came in to be treated for ringworm, and the story was relayed to me by Dr. Z. Of course the funky question is, WHY didn't the dermatologist ASK about the cat?????!!! Sheesh........... Kristi > Hey there, > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Sheesh........... At least dogs and cats can't catch scabies. That little bit of extra body temperature seems to be all it takes. They are species specific. Jo > At least dogs and cats can't catch scabies. That little bit of extra body > temperature seems to be all it takes. They are species specific. Oh yes they can. Sarcoptic mange is also known as scabies. It's very common in dogs, but i don't know about cats. Now it may be species specific but I've seen a few cases of scabies on pets, but not humans Kristi >> At least dogs and cats can't catch scabies. That little bit of extra >> body [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Kristi Similar but not the same mite. Kind of the way different fleas requite different hosts. From one of the very many sites I've been to: Pets (dogs, cats and rabbits) and some farm animals (goats, horses, cattle and pigs) can be infected with scabies mites, but these are of a different type than human scabies mites. If you have close contact with an animal that has scabies, the mites could get under your skin and cause temporary skin irritation and itching. However, the mites die in a couple of days, and you do not need to be treated with special medication to kill the mites. If a pet or farm animal has scabies, it is important to have the disease treated by a veterinarian or you could continue to get reinfected from the animal. >Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of >prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my PCP. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >epidemic. Older grandson is also afflicted. As are lots of their >"friends". Ouch... I'm itching just thinking about it! I hope that now you've got the proper medicine it'll take care of it tout sweet... I can't STAND bugs! >>Finally, after months of itching and misery. After too many doses of >>prednisone to keep the itch at bay. After at least three visits to my [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > the proper medicine it'll take care of it tout sweet... I can't STAND > bugs! I'm all better. All the kids/teens I'm aware of have been treated. Charlie's teeth are even doing pretty well for now. All in all we are having a nice quiet evening. Jo |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.